The Green Berets (1968)

The Green Berets is a 1968 American war film set in Vietnam, featuring John Wayne, Jim Hutton, David Janssen, Aldo Ray, Patrick Wayne, Jack Soo and George Takei, nominally based on the eponymous 1965 book by Robin Moore, though the screenplay has little relation to the book.

Much of the film was shot in the summer of 1967 (before the Tet Offensive).

Thematically, The Green Berets is strongly anti-communist and pro-Saigon. It was released at the height of American involvement in the Vietnam War, the same year as the Tet offensive against the largest cities in South Vietnam. John Wayne, concerned by the anti-war atmosphere in the United States, wanted to make this film to present the pro-military position. He requested and obtained full military co-operation and materiel from President Johnson. To please the Pentagon, who were attempting to prosecute Robin Moore for revealing classified information, Wayne bought Moore out for $35,000 and 5 percent of undefined profits of the film.

Synopsis

At Fort Bragg, cynical newspaper reporter George Beckworth (David Janssen) is at a Special Forces briefing about the American military involvement in the war in Vietnam. The briefing at Gabriel Demonstration Area (named for SGT Jimmy Gabriel, the first "Green Beret" soldier killed in Vietnam), includes a demonstration and explanation of the whys and wherefores of participating in the Vietnam War.

Actors